1. No one wears pearls in real life.
Although you'd assume so, from various TV shows or pics like this, but I didn't see one sister wearing pearls. The belief that sorority women wear pearls and cashmere cardigans is outdated, and I learned this firsthand when I saw the majority of girls wearing outfits they'd probably wear to class. I have nothing against pearls or looking classy, and I kind of wish we could bring back that standard of preppiness and burn all the Lilly dresses.
2. The South always has more spirit.
As award recipients were called out, the screams and boom stick clatter came from the area of the room seating the representatives from Texas and Florida. This didn't surprise me in the least, because of the fact that the southern chapters have 300-plus members and my chapter houses a mere 140, but it made me seriously jealous. Y'all need to share some of your spirit with the Northeast.
3. All sororities are more or less the same.
Everyone thinks that their sorority is the best, and obviously mine is, but sororities actually don't differ all that much in their structure. Every sorority has the same goals of connecting with other people, volunteering and honoring the traditions of its founders. When we create hierarchies on our campuses surrounding the social relevance and importance of sororities, we're missing the point. We're not competitors. Sororities are separated by their specific philanthropic interests and the kind of environments they foster, but this doesn't mean that one has to be better than another. We all need to get off our high horses and be friends.
4. Someone has always done it better than you, and worse.
As chapter president, I always feel like I'm under a magnifying glass held by our Grand Council (Nationals), but I realized almost immediately that this was not the case. After hearing the dirty little secrets of some other presidents, I discovered that Grand Council has far bigger fish to fry and isn't hovering over my little chapter like I always thought it was. I was relieved in a selfish way, as I thought to myself, "At least my chapter's never done that," but I also realized that all chapters make mistakes from time to time.
5. Your sorority is so much bigger than just your chapter.
A lot of girls go through their four sorority years partying, singing and hosting charity events, until graduation day comes and, to put it bluntly, they’re done. They don’t see how their four years could have impacted anything or have left a mark, and this is ridiculously wrong. Being at this convention showed me that the only thing separating our sisters is geography. If we could all be together all the time, we would. The fact that we’re split up across the country makes us feel powerless and unrecognized, and we fail to notice that our efforts are being praised year-round and make up the representation of our national or international organization. I realized this when my tiny chapter won three amazing awards that I wasn’t even expecting. #humblebrag
